Relations between the European Union (EU) and Britain have always been a bit prickly, but EU Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker said on Friday that Brexit negotiations are beginning to resemble the courtship of two hedgehogs.

Not at war with UK

"We're not at war with Great Britain," Juncker told the Austrian daily Die Presse in an interview published the day after British Prime Minister Theresa May's Brexit plan was rejected as unworkable and unacceptable by the bloc's other 27 members at an informal summit in Salzburg.

"We have to be careful, like two hedgehogs who love each other," Juncker said. "When two hedgehogs embrace, they have to watch out that they don't get scratched."

Juncker insisted that the two sides were "moving closer." Nevertheless, "the Irish border question is very difficult," he said.

Scottish First Minister: May's Brexit plan has to stop

The British Prime Minister must stop pretending that her plan for the UK to leave the EU, known as the Chequers plan, can work and she must stop the clock on the Brexit withdrawal process, Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon said on Friday.

"Now that the EU has explicitly rejected it, the Chequers pretense has to stop. At the very least, single market/customs union membership must be back on the table and the Article 50 clock stopped to avoid a cliff edge," Sturgeon said on Twitter.

Not be 'overdramatized' 

"It's also clear that there can be no leaving the EU while retaining the privileges of the community. Brexit means Brexit," Juncker said.

Asked whether the British people should have another say on the exit deal once it had been agreed, Juncker said May had made it clear in Salzburg that there will no second referendum.

"Nevertheless, the British parliament must vote on the exit deal, and the EU parliament, as well. And not everything that London likes is liked by the EU parliament. One has to look closely for common ground."

Juncker said the situation between Britain and the EU should not be "overdramatized."

Britain "will remain an important partner in trade and security for the EU. But with the British, we're losing a bit of pragmatism. That is why the exit deeply saddens me," Juncker said.